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Sony sells Tokyo office for $1.2 billion

Sony Corporation today announced the sale of its Sony City Osaki office building for 111.1 billion yen ($1.2 billion/ £790.9 million). The building was sold to Nippon building Fund, Inc. and one unnamed Japanese investor, but Sony will remain in the building for five years under a new lease agreement.

Net cash after transaction costs comes to 110 billion yen ($1.19 billion/ £783 million), with Sony expecting a gain on 41 billion yen ($442.4 million/ £291.9 million) to go against operating income for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2013.

The sale comes as Sony tries to slim down and cut costs.

"Sony has identified certain assets for possible sale as part of an initiative to transform its business portfolio and reorganize its assets. This sale was conducted as a part of that initiative. While this sale was anticipated and the potential gain on the sale was taken into account at the time of the forecast, Sony is currently reevaluating the aggregate impact of this sale and other factors on the forecast," said the company in its statement.

@ Tom Except the sales of these buildings aren't even close to covering the annual losses Sony as a corporation has, much less the billions of dollars in debt they now have. They are softening the blow a bit for now though.